To Protect
by Veridissima
Summary: The Stone Princess was sent North with a knight and a sailor, and they were almost at their destination, The Wall, when they ran in to this enormous and intriguing direwolf. Fill for Faerie Tale (the fourth day) of Rickeen shipweek 2016


_Happy Rickeen Week to all! This my fill for Faerie Tale (the fourth day) of Rickeen shipweek 2016_

 _Sorry for any mistakes and typos - English is not my first language! And of course, I do not own Rickon, Shireen or_ A Song of Ice and Fire

 _ENJOY!_

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Princess Shireen had been sent North by her father to help defend Westeros from the Long Night; he and the lords from Stormlanders believed that their Stone Princess could help in this fight – she still wasn't sure if she truly could, but she was a Stormlands' Princess and she would do her best to protect her people and the people of Westeros.

But the Princess had not been sent North alone. Even with her powers, her father and mother still didn't believe her capable of travelling safely on her own, so they sent her with two protectors, that would probably not be anyone else's first choice, but she wouldn't have let anyone else accompany her. The first was her cousin, Edric Storm, a knighted royal bastard that carried both a sword and a war hammer – like his father, he preferred using the hammer, but unlike the King, he was notoriously better with the sword. The second man that accompanied her was a family friend, Devan Seaworth, the son of her father's right hand, who had made sure they got to White Harbour by ship unknown to everybody else.

Like they had expected the trip to White Harbour hadn't been that hard, Devan had been raised in the sea with his siblings and parents – when they were young, they had even imagined that his father Davos could control the sea like Shireen could control the rocks. But they hadn't been able to go North than that by water, they had found the winter storms made the sea impossible to sail, even for a sailor from the Stormlands. So they took to land, each got their own horse, and then the ride to the Wall truly started, with Edric always at the helm, believing himself to be the protector of all, to the point that it became quite annoying.

"Edric, it's just a noise. It's not like every noise we hear means danger."

"We are almost into wildling territory," he told her. While this was mostly true now – if they were following the map right, they should be in the Gift by now – Edric had been saying it since they got to out of the ship.

"You know, they like to be called Free Folk, you should respect that, Ed," she said, calling him by a name he didn't like either.

"Either way, it could be dangerous," Edric argued. "Devan, back me up."

"Shireen should be able to check what it is," he said, and she immediately smiled smugly, but he then added, "But we should go with her." Devan had always been quite good at finding a middle ground between them – certainly better at negotiation and diplomacy than his father.

"I'll walk in front of you. This is my mission, boys," she said, and after they dropped their bags where they had decided to spend the night, she stepped forward through the trees and bushes and followed the noise, and then called out for someone.

"See there's nothing. Let's go," Devan argued, while Edric wanted to soldier on but by himself.

And then out of nowhere something jumped from the bushes, Edric and Devan drew their swords at once, and quickly pushed Shireen behind them.

"Princess, stay there. Run if we tell you to," they said, but she looked on. It was a large back wolf, or better said a direwolf – they only existed beyond the Wall, so they should be really close to the Wall right now – but there was something strange and appealing about it, like he was more than he appeared to be.

"Let me through," she asked, trying to open away through the boys. She wasn't sure if that was the safest thing to do, but something drew her in.

"My lady, it could be dangerous," Edric warned her, and this time Devan fully supported him, but she knew that wasn't true.

"Hello, I'm Shireen," she said, extending her hand. "These are Edric and Devan, and they are not going to hurt you." Somehow she thought that the direwolf didn't seem very convinced. "I promise they won't." The black creature came closer and reached for her hand and licked her fingers happily, and then scratched around her legs. "See, he is sweet," she said, scratching his ears.

"How do you know he is a 'he'?" Edric asked.

"I just have a feeling he is a 'he', but I'm not sure." And before anything else happened, the direwolf stepped back and then something strange happened around him – some kind of dust and wind – and in seconds there was a naked boy in front of her.

"I'm a man, you see," he said wiggling his body, and Shireen immediately blushed.

"Please, cover yourself," Edric ordered. "You're in front of a princess," he continued ordering, as Devan took her away.

"What's wrong with how I am?" the man asked. "It's not like I'm cold."

"Man, you're naked," Edric pointed out. "As no clothes on."

"Ohhh… yes, I forgot my sister and mother's teachings for a moment."

"Edric, you can give him one of our cloaks," Shireen suggested. She wanted to speak with him and look at him, but she couldn't do it while he was naked – that wasn't proper of a Princess.

"Lady-" he started, so Shireen walked back and got one of hers and threw it at the man.

"Thank you, Shireen."

"It's 'my lady' or 'princess' to you," Edric added.

"Shireen will be okay. Are you decent?"

"I guess so," he said. Shireen turned and look at him again, and she realized he was still not a proper man, likely younger than her, but he still strong, more than you would expect a boy to be. He was covered now, but she could still see more skin that she had seen in most men, but the improper things were at least properly covered now. "What's your name?"

"Rickon. Rickon Stark."

"Stark?" she asked, sharing a look with her following travellers. Her father had said if they could find the Starks it would be good, the Stark patriarch had always loved her Uncle Robert. "Is Ned Stark your father?"

"Yes, he is. Why?"

"We're looking for you," she said. "I'm Princess Shireen, the Storm Princess, my father sent me. This is my cousin, Edric Storm, son of your father's friend, King Robert. And this is our friend, Devan Seaworth."

"We've been waiting for you," he said, excited, and once again she got a glimpse of something she shouldn't see, as he let go of his cloak. "I can take you there now. You can ride me."

"My lady will not ride you, sir!" Edric yelled, completely shocked.

"But if you could stay, we would appreciate your guidance tomorrow. It is getting rather dark, and we should set camp," Shireen added to her cousin's outburst.

"If you wish."

Rickon followed them to their things, and helped set their tent – the three of them shared only one (it significantly eased their load), but the boys never slept at the same time, one of them always stayed up, making sure they weren't surprised by any unexpected guests – she had offered to join the rotation, but they wouldn't let her. And Rickon told them he could sleep outside, and that he could take watch while they slept, that his senses were enhanced and he could catch anything, they denied his offer, but they insisted that he took some of Edric's clothes, since they had similar bodies.

They ate together, and Rickon caught them on the situation beyond the Wall, and the situation was clearly direr than the South thought it was. There seemed to be more demons every night, while very few had succeed passing the Wall, they were getting closer to succeed, since the Wall was getting weaker and weaker with every night and attack.

"That's why I'm here," she told him. "Won't your family miss you tonight?"

"They shouldn't worry too much. I can feel my siblings and father."

"But not your mother?"

"She does not have Stark blood, but if I need her, I can get to her – she can hear the water."

"Hear the water?"

"The Tully blood lets her, and us, control the water – which helps in the snow and ice. She and my oldest brother can't use their magic anymore, it is lost after marriage, but they can still hear the water. My sister, Arya, swears she will never marry."

"And you, will you marry?"

"Are you asking, my lady?" he asked with a smirk. And only then Shireen noticed her friends were now gone, since they would obviously react to his provocation. "If I find the right woman. But it will be sad to abandon my powers."

"I imagine so. Why does that happen?"

"You give your life to your spouse. Your life no longer belongs to the water spirit. So I believe if you're giving your life to someone else that person should deserve it."

"I believe so. But don't you believe your life is yours..."

"The Old Gods have my life – they take care for us; and if we are good they will give us the right to govern our own life." It was an interesting view on things, Shireen knew her life wasn't hers – it was her father's, and it would be her husband's and her people's when she married and inherited Storm's End.

"Is the water spirit part of the Old Gods?"

"No," he said with a laugh. "He's a spirit. That could both fall in with the Old Gods or your New ones. My mother does follow the New Gods."

"Shireen, it's getting cold and dark," Devan warned, "You should go inside the tent, to sleep."

"Devan, I'm entertaining our guest," she told him, with a voice, so much like her father's that would impose respect.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Princess. But Edric is tired and he will need to get up soon. He can't go to the tent before you change and get ready for bed."

"Yes, of course. I'll go change," she told looking at Devan – understanding what he meant – but then looked back at Rickon to say, "But I'll come back soon." She said her goodbyes to the men, and asked license to go to the tent – she took off her dress and changed into her nightgown, after she cleaned herself with a clean cloth, she went back outside, wrapped in a cloak – the same Rickon had used early, it still smelled like him.

"Have a good night, Edric," she said as she walked out of the tent. She knew her cousin wanted to argue, but she didn't let him, as she joined Rickon again by the fire. As she sat, self-consciously she realized that this was the first time that someone besides her family and Devan had seen her in a nightgown.

"You look beautiful in your night clothes, Shireen. But it must be cold," he said, "If you want to scooch over, you will be closer to the fire."

"I'm quite imperviable to cold as well."

"How?" he asked.

"Do you see my scar – the greyscale?" she asked, even if she knew he couldn't have missed it, nobody ever did. "It's not contagious, I promise."

"I've wondered about it," he said. "Could I touch it? I've wanted to since I saw you, but I didn't think your friends would approve."

"The probably wouldn't," she said with a laugh. "And you can." Nobody, beside the maesters, had touched her greyscale, the few times Father and Mother kissed her, it was on the other cheek, and they wouldn't dare to touch it. She continued speaking, trying to ignore his hand on her cheek – it was hard even if she couldn't feel it. "Nobody survives the disease. Greyscale should have taken over my entire body, and madness over my mind; but by some miracle I was spared. My mind intact and sharp, and my body with little scars of it."

"They are beautiful."

"Try to hit me, Rickon."

"What? I couldn't."

"Just try, on my arm or leg, and strongly."

"Shireen-"

"I'm asking you, and I promise Devan won't attack you." It took a bit more convincing, but he closed his fist and bumped it again Shireen's arm. "You need to use more strength."

"Shireen-"

"I promise I'll be okay."

It took three more tries until he used the needed strength, and her entire body turned to stone, and he hurt his hand.

"Is your hand okay? I've broken Edric, Devan and his brothers' hands in occasion and a few feet as well."

"It's okay. We heal fast," he answered. "Wow… You have a permanent armour… Why are Edric and Devan so protective? If I had wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have been able too."

"I know… They are just too protective sometimes," she answered. "But this isn't what father thought would help our cause. I can sometimes control stone, he hopes I can help restore the Wall – I haven't used it much, and I'm not sure how to use it. The armour is intuitive, that isn't. My father told me there was more magic here, and hopefully someone to teach me."

"My mother could help. She taught us the basics of water control without ever moving the water."

Shireen smiled.

"It's fitting, you know. Bran the Builder advised Durran on the building of Storm's End, it's fitting that Storm's End now repays the favour."

And Rickon smiled back.


End file.
